TaskMagic 2 is an upgrade of the original TaskMagic 1 authoring package. TaskMagic 1 is no longer available.

What is TaskMagic?
TaskMagic is a suite of authoring tools for creating interactive lesson content. It is a really quick and easy way for teachers to create a whole range of presentation and practice activities in just a few minutes.

TaskMagic is currently used by a large number of secondary school Modern Languages departments in the UK as it can be used to teach and practise any Roman-script language at any level. So there's no need to buy separate software packages for French, German, Spanish, Italian etc for KS2, 3, 4, or 5 - TaskMagic can be used for all of these.

And TaskMagic is not just being used for languages. Since the content of TaskMagic exercises is generated by the teacher, a wide variety of subjects can tap in to the facilities that TaskMagic has to offer, making it a truly cross-curricular resource. Primary schools are also using TaskMagic to help deliver their KS2 Modern Languages requirements as well as for literacy work on any topic. The only limit is your imagination!

The way it works is really simple. Two programs make up the TaskMagic package: TaskMagicCreate & TaskMagicPlay.

The teacher creates games and exercises using TaskMagicCreate and saves them for later use. Anyone who has the TaskMagic software installed can then access these games and exercises using TaskMagicPlay.

Students can download a free Home Use Only Version of TaskMagic Play so that they can access TaskMagic files on your website or from any of the growing number of sites which have them available.

TaskMagic enables teachers to generate eight different exercise types:

1. Text Match creates a wide range of exercises based on a list of text items. These can be questions and answers, L1 and L2, words and definitions, beginnings and ends of words or sentences, etc. The edit screen in TaskMagic Create allows the teacher to input up to 16 matching pairs of text information. The number of exercises created depends on the number of matching pairs of text input. If all 16 items are input, 20 or 21 games and exercises are automatically generated by the TaskMagic software.

2. Picture Match creates a wide range of exercises based on matching images with text items. You can use any images from your PC or network, or you can save images from the Internet to include in your exercises. The edit screen in TaskMagic Create allows the teacher to input up to 16 images and 16 matching items of text information. The number of exercises created depends on the number of matching pairs of images and texts. If all 16 items are input, 21 games and exercises are automatically generated by the TaskMagic software.

3. Sound Match creates a wide range of exercises based on matching sounds with text items. You can use sounds from anywhere on your PC or network. You can also record your own sound files using Windows Sound Recorder or other sound recording software. The edit screen in TaskMagic Create allows the teacher to input up to 16 matching sounds and text items. The number of exercises created depends on the number of matching items. If all 16 items are input, 18 games and exercises are automatically generated by the TaskMagic software.

4. Pic-Sound creates a wide range of exercises based on matching images and sounds. Browse for image and sound files anywhere on your PC or network to add them to your exercise. The edit screen in TaskMagic Create allows the teacher to input up to 16 matching images and sounds. The number of exercises created depends on the number of matching items. If all 16 items are input, 15 games and exercises are automatically generated by the TaskMagic software.

5. Grid Match creates a wide range of exercises based on text items entered into a grid. It is ideal for verb conjugation work but can also be used in any situation where 2 stimuli are required to elicit a specific response. The edit screen in TaskMagic Create allows the teacher to input data in up to 12 rows and 5 columns. The number of exercises created depends on the amount of text data input. Up to 22 games and exercises are automatically generated by the TaskMagic software.

6. Mix & Gap creates a wide range of exercises based on a single text of up to 250 words. Exercises are variations on re-ordering, gap-filling and text re-building formats. A sound file can be included to support your exercise. The edit screen in TaskMagic Create allows the teacher to type or paste in a text of up to 250 words. The number of exercises created depends on the number of words in the text. Up to 17 games and exercises are automatically generated by the TaskMagic software.

7. Dialogues creates a wide range of exercises based on a short dialogue. Exercises are variations on re-ordering, gap-filling and text re-building formats. A sound file can be included to support your exercise. The edit screen in TaskMagic Create allows the teacher to type in a dialogue with up to 14 lines of text. The above games and exercises are automatically generated by the TaskMagic software.

8. Multi-Choice creates a multiple-choice quiz with up to 100 questions and 10 possible answers per question. A sound file can be included as support for the entire quiz or for separate questions. An image file can also be added to each question. The edit screen in TaskMagic Create allows the teacher to type in a question with up to 10 possible answers. At least one of the answers must be marked as correct. Up to 100 questions can be included in the quiz. There is also the facility to run a multiple-choice quiz as a test and save the test scores for access by the teacher.